Ultraman: Darkened Skies
by MisterNiku
Summary: Set in a different time, the Earth has fallen under darkness and humanity is struggling to survive against the Invaders and their converted followers. Will a new ray of light in this dark time penetrate the darkness and save mankind? AU, OC's  mainly .
1. Episode 1: Symbiosis

_Floating in the vaccuum of space, a single sattelite drifted far off course with the instruments inside still feebly registering the various flashes of light or motion as it continued it's endless voyage through the galaxy._

_A flicker of light began to be registered on the monitors prompting the machines to begin ticking at the approach. As it got closer they began to accelerate, soon hitting the top end of the scale before finally skittering and breaking from the energy being emitted by the anomaly._

_The light streaked past the sattelite and continued it's journey to the sattelite's planet of origin._

**- - - Episode 1: Symbiosis - - -**

The clatter of hob-nail boots over the ruined remains of the city echoed through the still air, as the small group of humans collected in a relatively hidden position behind a ruined church. Their leader took a moment to glance up at the sky and try to guess what moment of the cycle they were on.

It was pointless as always, the air was filled with the same dark clouds as it always was but some hidden part of his mind still made him think he should look. Cursing to himself, he slipped back into their hiding place to check on his companions.

Two women and one other man, one of the woman had bleached blonde hair and was carrying the majority of the food supplies they'd managed to find. The other was sitting and catching her breath while she tweaked her handgun. It wasn't one of the new models they'd managed to obtain, but it was effective against converts.

Absent-mindedly touching the strange pistol shaped weapon he had strapped to his hip, the leader began to wonder whether humanity ever stood a chance of getting back to normal. Whatever that was. He'd been born under this blackened sky and couldn't imagine the sunlight the elders talked about.

"Alright guys," he said finally "We need to get going again, we're nearly home. Just need to get to Sub-1 and we can get to Stronghold. Nat, you take point, Laura's with me and Tommy can bring up the rear"

There was a noticable sigh of relief from Laura and a slightly hurt nod of acquiescence from Tommy. There was tension in the group that he planned to try and resolve, but talking with Laura came first.

"We got it Jason" Nat smiled, her blonde hair waving in the slight breeze as she poked her head free. Seeing the route was clear she signalled the others up and they began their long trek to safety through the dusky remains of Earth.

**\-/-\-/**

Walking through the ruins of a park, Jason took the time to ask Laura some of the questions he thought she might have an easier time answering than Tommy.

"So, what's the problem with you and Tommy?" He asked, subtlety wasn't his strong suit (and was most definitely not why he was leader of a scavenge team)

"Problem? Who says there's a problem?" Laura replied airily, looking for possible snipers as Nat carefully navigated a still mostly intact statue that had fallen to obstruct their path. Jason gave her one of his patented 'tell the truth' looks and smiled as she sighed, clearly about to spill the beans

"Alright, look, he said that he was in love with me. I mean, talk about inappropriate! We're living in a barren wasteland and he's talking about love! I told him to get lost but he's not even angry, he's just still... LIKING me. It's annoying" She huffed

Jason laughed, covering his eyes with the palm of his hand to hide the tears of laughter"Wait, wait, you're angry because he loves you? Ahhh, thanks Laura. It's good to know you two are keeping the human spirit alive" upon seeing the confusion on her face he added "Maybe you should consider how _you_ feel before rejecting him?"

Jason walked on a ways with a dumb-struck Laura behind him, he shouted over his shoulder "You doing alright, Tommy?"

Tommy nodded his reply, a little shyly (the guy's biggest problem as far as Jason could see) and held a finger to his lips. Jason's face blanched, he recognised the symbol. It was pretty innocuous for most people, it meant 'be quiet'. But for scavenge teams it meant something else.

'They're listening'

Jason walked as casually as he could up to Nat and gave her the same signal. She too looked terrified, realising they couldn't use Sub-1 any more, she made an abrupt right turn and lead the party into the basement of a destroyed home through a small 3 foot high window.

As Tommy slipped through, Jason began re-loading his pistol as quietly as he could

"Alright team," Jason started "We need to try and take care of this-"

There was a sudden rush of air and a scorching in the air. The whole region seemed filled with an indescribable light, a strange sound filled the atmosphere it sounded like radio static being assembled into mangled words. The whole team was dropped to their knees as the sound assailed them, threatening to knock them unconscious.

Then, with no warning, it ended. Silence reigned once more.

Cautiously, Jason looked outside to see a strange metallic chamber being erected directly across from Sub-1. It was only converts working on it, but they weren't there a second ago. Tommy whispered to Jason

"They were the ones I saw watching us" his eyes flitting upwards to examine the chamber as well as the people working on it. The black and purple uniforms were tight across their chests and the prominent veins of the implants under their skin were repugnant in the dim light.

The converts were focused on their task, seeing their chance, Jason had to make a decision quickly. Wait until they leave naturally, risking exposure. Or try and attempt a run. If they made the run, they'd all be safe. Sub-1 was a modified elevator leading directly to Stronghold and as long as the converts didn't see it, they'd be fine.

But if they saw... that'd be the end of everything.

Jason chewed his lip, he had to make a decision soon. He saw Nat looking furtively at the entrance, Laura looking to him for his choice and Tommy... looking at Laura. Whatever else happened, he decided, those two kids were getting home.

"Alright, we're going over" Jason finally announced. His companions nodded and as one, they crept out of the basement. A minimal line of cover existed, made of concrete. From here, it was clear the chamber was made of a very thin metal. The converts were shaping it with their bare-hands. While they were strong, they couldn't bend steel. A strange dial seemed to be indicating something to their leader as he kept checking it.

Sneaking past, the team managed to reach the entrance to Sub-1, when it happened.

Nat stepped on a rock she hadn't seen and accidentally kicked it out, bouncing down the steps. The steady tap, tap, tap of the stone falling down the stairs was like an alarm clock to the converts. The leader's jaw opened as sounds flew out resembling words  
"TERR-UR-ISHTS" it proclaimed as the converts grabbed for their weapons.

"Run!" Jason bellowed, as they began sprinting down the steps. They reached the lift, Nat diving in first, followed by Laura and then Jason. As he reached the back he suddenly saw the doors slam shut.

Bewildered, he looked up to see... Tommy. Standing with his hand pressed on the close button. Their eyes met and the message was conveyed.

The converts could not find Stronghold.

Tommy hefted his own pistol and began firing, Jason screamed at him to open the doors, Nat frantically tried to rewire the panels before the elevator left and Laura could only watch...

The weapons fired bolts of purple lightning, they scorched the lift but did no damage to the pyrex doors as Tommy retaliated. He got nearly all of them, a stray shot demolishing the chamber the converts had built but it wasn't enough.

A blast struck his stomach and he doubled over immediately, blood spilling through his fingers as he clutched at the hole where his midsection had been. To the horrified eyes of his friends, he raised his pistol one last time and hit the final convert square in the forehead. Sub-1 was safe. Laura was safe.

Tommy fell slowly, his friends got to see him hit the ground for only a few seconds before the lift launched. Rocketting downwards, to Stronghold. Jason pounded on the elevator, screamed at Tommy for being an idiot. Nat sobbed quietly in a corned while Laura said... nothing.

The lift halted, as the trio exited. The food they had found, that had seemed so precious moments before, seemed useless now.

Tommy was gone.

They quietly dispersed, each heading to their own quarters to grieve. For the dear friend they had lost.

**\-/-\-/**

It was 2 days later, while Jason was training in the gym that they heard the news. A survivor had been found, lying unconscious in the street. With a distinct lack of interest, Jason still went to greet the new guy.

He'd done the same thing for Tommy only a year ago.

As he walked through the crowd he noticed something odd, some people at the front were arguing intensely. One of them was Nat, who looked about ready to kill someone. Weaving through the crowd, he reached the commotion and saw why she was so upset.

It was Tommy.

Gritting his own teeth, and determined not to do anything drastic he got ready to chew out the insensitive prick that had brought Tommy's Corpse down as a survivor when he was pre-empted by Nat.

"We saw him, _DIE_! Dragging his corpse down here is disrespectful in the extreme!"

"Thats what I'm telling you, you crazy broad!" The team leader was shouting, his face generally expressing a mix of shock and insult "He _isn't_ dead! Check his pulse! He's even got a whole stomach! He can't be your friend!"

But Jason saw clearer. It _was_ him. It was Tommy lying in a soldiers arms. The slow rhythmic breathing of his chest showed he was alive, but how could that be possible? He'd had his stomach destroyed, that was fatal. Had 'they' repaired him? If so... was he even Tommy any more?

**\-/-\-/**

**Name:** Thomas Starr  
**Age:** 23  
**Gender:** Male  
**Status:** K.I.A  
**Family:** None  
**Religion:** None

**Hair:** Brown  
**Eyes:** Hazel

**Character Summary:** Quiet, observant, good for scavenging duties as a result.  
Despite not saying much seems to observe great deal.  
Cares for Stronghold greatly. Recomended for Scavenger role.

**Conversion risk:** 6%

**Final Report:** Died from Nega-Bolt shot direct to abdomen, believed to have died in minutes. Witnessed by Jason Gabel, Natalia Deaver and Laura Hawke. Picture added to memorial wall.

**\-/-\-/**

His eyes slowly opened to the dull light of a hospital room. Sitting up in bed, he felt...strange. He looked down and saw arms... hands. He examined them curiously, experimentally bending his fingers. Gingerly, he tugged aside the pale green sheets that were restraining him and wandered over to a mirror.

He poked and prodded his face, the green-brown eyes, the mess of hair and a spatter of freckles. It was a face alright. Shuffling over to the door, he raised a hand and watched as it was withdrawn and saw a woman opposite him.

Black hair, short cut, blue eyes, she looked different from him. But pleasing in some way he didn't fully understand but was wise enough not to ignore.

How should he react?

The question was taken out of his hands as she threw her arms around him and began crying into his chest (which he noticed was covered by a greenish thing that actually WASN'T part of his body) sobbing the same words over and over again

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Laura cried, her tears streaming down her cheeks, relief and regret surging out at once as she saw that Tommy was alive, he hadn't been killed as she'd thought.

And the man with this girl crying into his chest thought simply

"_Oh no... She doesn't know he's dead_"

Raising her eyes, puffy with tears Laura looked into his eyes and saw... pity? She withdrew slightly and looked at him  
"Tommy? What's wrong, you look strange"

Panicking, the man tried his best to simulate an emotion "Oh, I'm fine! I just... my memories hazy, I can't remember anything... do you know where I am?" Thinking he'd been successful, he was deeply concerned when he saw her face suddenly look distraught.

Laura couldn't believe it, his memory was gone? Did that mean that Tommy was gone after all but his body was still walking around? Oh no, that was too cruel that was...  
"I'm sorry, I-I have to go" Laura choked out, turning and dashing from the room. The man watched after her, sadly.

"_I'm sorry,_" he thought "_He must have loved you very much_". Taking a moment to assess his surroundings, he made sure that he still had the items he needed. A silver wristband that resembled a high-tech watch and a thin device with a press-down top. Slipping the band around his wrist, he found the clothes he'd been left and tried them on.

He looked better in the clothes. Dirty red T-shirt, loose black jeans. He felt like he was getting to know the man who's body he'd stolen. Sighing, he gathered his things and got ready to leave.

**\-/-\-/**

Jason was filled with turbulent emotions. On the one hand, he wanted Tommy to be alive but on the other, if he'd been converted, he'd have to be put down for his own good. But he didn't look like he'd been modified, could he still be human? Jason's thoughts trailed off as he saw Laura crying outside the hospital.

He hadn't seen her since Tommy's death and her reaction didn't seem promising. Jogging over he rested a hand on her shoulder immediately

"Laura, what's wrong?" he asked, his own paranoia making him fear the worst. Through wracked sobs, Laura managed to get out

"Tommy... he lost his memory" her tears kept falling as Jason tried to work out if that was good or bad news. She was clearly unharmed (well, physically, mentally she was devestated) but did that mean he wasn't converted.

While he was thinking this, Jason caught a glint out of the corner of his eye and reflexive dived. Luckily, this was the right thing to do as a streak of purple plasma zipped over head and burnt through one of the metal sheets that made up the hospital walls.

He heard the heavy even tread of soldiers and glanced up to see a grand total of Ten converted standing in front of him. That was impossible! How did they get in here without triggering any alarms? How'd they even find this place? Were they here for Tommy?

Jason wasted no time getting to his feet, he was unarmed but that wasn't about to stop him. He immediately leapt forward, lashing out with a kick slamming one of them square in the head but not hard enough to knock them out.

With fingers like a vice, the converted member he'd hit grabbed Jason's leg and hurled him away. He hit the ground hard, bouncing once before rolling to a stop. The remaining members advanced on Laura who was still trying to supress her tears enough to fight back.

Jason tried to reach towards Laura, straining with his hand despite the incredible distance. But the pain was too much, his vision blurred as he fell into unconsciousness. The converted who was closest to Laura grabbed her idly by the neck as she tried to jab him in the eyes and began to squeeze. He opened his mouth and a pre-recorded voice echoed out, that of a charming old man, and began to ask her questions

"Now tell me, sweetheart. Where is the Ultaran?"

"The what?" Laura asked, confusion and grief mingling as one as she tried to focus through her surging feelings.

"The Ultaran, sweetheart. Come now, you can tell me. I sound trustworthy, don't I?"

"I... I don't know" Laura sobbed "Why is this happening? We just got Tommy back, and now we're going to die"

"Tommy, you say?" The converted holding her tightened his grip, his face remaining expressionless "Thanks doll-face, I hope the afterlife's more pleasent" Laura could see spots appearing on her vision as her oxygen supply was cut, she gasped for breath as she too began to slip into unconciousness.

"Let her go!"

Laura felt herself falling, her eyes slipping over to one side she saw a blurred figure standing by the hospital's entrance and she tried in her rasping voice to say his name. She couldn't manage it as she joined Jason by blacking out.

The converted were happy at least. They'd found the Ultaran

"So good of you to show up, sport"

**\-/-\-/**

As they converged onto him, the man held a hand up, his brown hair fluttering in front of his eyes as he looked the converted in front of him dead in the face

"How many humans did you kill on your way here?"

"You gotta ask? Fine, we eliminated _SEVEN_ humans" the voice switched to a digitial style for the number.

"Ahh. That's bad for you. Two reasons. First one, it means no-one's here for me to worry about scaring and making my job harder and two... you gave me a lot of motivation"

Swinging his hands up, he slammed his right palm onto the large flat face of the wristband and caused a small spark of orange to burst forth before his whole body began to glow. With a sudden explosion of incandescent light, his body reformed.

A red body with silver and blue armour mingled in, a silver helmet with two ridges along the fore-head and four along the cheeks. Luminous glowing eyes. A blue glow on his chest

The converted recognised the figure standing before them, but were baffled by his loss of stature.  
"Hey, buddy, I thought your kind was 100 feet tall or something?"

"Oh? Well, I can see why that's more well known. After all, EVERYONE sees us fight the giant monsters" There was a flash of light and a loud crash, the converted's leader looked around and saw one of his followers imbedded into the ground, oil spilling from his damaged joints  
"People don't always see us when we don't"

With a gargled war-cry, the converted began to attack. With a flash of light, the Ultaran vanished again, re-appearing suddenly with a sweeping kick, the converted he hit were thrown into the hospital's steel walls and ricochetted with the force, stains of oil showing the severe damage they suffered.

Striking from behind, one of the converted was surprised to be blocked and even more surprised to find himself being thrown head-first into the ground by a hip-toss, directly in front of two of his allies. Without even a second to react, they too were struck by palm strikes from the mysterious warrior.

Oil burst from their backs as the damage tore through them internally, they were under-prepared. As one of them succumbed to his injuries it announced  
"Change tactics. Ranged. Victims"

The remaining converted raised their weapons and began firing at Jason and Laura. The man that was using Tommy's shape threw up both hands and a sparkle of orange light suddenly formed in front of both humans absorbing the Nega-Bolt energies easily. Turning to attack him again, they were in time to see the figure with his right arm rised vertically and his left off to one side

"Spacium Ray!" Bringing his right arm down, and left across to meet up, the silver-helmetted man unleashed a blast of energy. The laser obliterated the remaining converts as it sweeped across them, finally scorching the lower legs off of the former leader who squawked in discomfort as he collapsed to the floor.

Walking over, the Ultaran held his hand over the final converted as a small halo of energy floated around his hand  
"How'd you get so powerful? We had you in that cage!"  
"Because, I'm not just the Ultaran. I combined with this human to make a new life-form. We are, Ultraman!" The energy ring blasted what remained of the converted as the blue indicator on his chest began to blip red and flash.

"Uh-oh" Ultraman murmured as his body glowed once more "Might have bitten off more than I can chew..." the world went dark around him as he collapsed to the floor, the strain of battle showing. As he drifted off to sleep he wondered again if there were anyway to regain this body's memories...

So, that's the first chapter


	2. Episode 2: Duty

The dull pulse of purple light as it ebbed and flowed through a series of circuits high above the sitting entity's head filled the darkened sphere that made up it's room.

Raising a hand with long, powerful fingers, it pointed at one of the pulses and the light immediately warped, stretching to form a rectangular screen. A broken cage and his grunts lying dead around it. With a rattling breath, he lowered his arm and exhaled loudly

The dark sphere suddenly dissolved into nothing, leaving the entity overlooking the ruined city he called his home. Speaking with a deep croak he announced

"Find him"

Listening for the roar of agreement that shook the very foundations of the building he rested upon, he smiled as his body melted once more into the shadows...

**- - - Episode 2: Duty - - -**

Opening his eyes, Tommy sat upright and groaned as he rubbed his fore-head. He knew his name wasn't Tommy, but for now it seemed easier to just think of himself with that label. His real name wasn't really important anyway. He was either Tommy, human with amnesia, or Ultraman since there weren't any others in this galaxy.

He seemed to be sitting in a plain white room and his clothes had been replaced too with a strange uniform. It resembled what he considered to be an old military uniform but was entirely black and had a bright red star emblazoned upon it. Apart from that, he saw no features other than a mirror and a door.

He lay back again, deciding to relax when he heard a voice echo through

"_Where are you from_?"

Sitting bolt upright, it took him a few seconds to think of a good answer. He knew he wasn't supposed to lie but he also knew that the truth wouldn't always set you free.

"I'm sorry, I have amnesia. I think I'm from here, this city"

"_Thomas Starr was found in the ruins of Fort City, you are not Thomas Starr_" the voice said simply. Tommy was a little flustered by that, surely he wasn't rumbled already, no-one could be that unlucky

"That is I, uhh, I'm from..." Giving up the ghost of lying, he switched to honesty "I'm from the M78 Nebula." There was a moment of silence and the voice returned, this time sounding more perplexed

"_What is a Nebula?_"

This wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting so Tommy briefly rubbed the back of his head as he thought of the best way to explain this to them. He'd noticed the blackened skies but had no idea humanity had fallen so far they didn't know what a nebula was

"It's a cloud of dust and other matter in space, you know? That empty region of the night sky filled with stars? I came to Earth on a mission to see why the signals you used to fire out all the time had been stopped and investigate some reports" The silence reigned once more until a sudden electronic buzzing preceded the door swinging open, pushed by a tired looking older man.

He had greying hair around his temples and his clothes resembled those worn by Tommy but incredibly tired and dusty, as if he'd worn them his whole life and they'd been through hell and back. He looked older than most of the humans that he'd seen so far but there was a fire in his eyes that Tommy had to respect.

"You're telling the truth. Come with me, alien. We have a status report for you" leading Tommy from the room, the old man continued talking "My name is Captain Alan Clark. As far as I am aware, my unit is the last of Earth's military. We protect Stronghold and last night I lost three of my men to those converted"

"I've been meaning to ask, what are they?" Tommy asked, his eyes glancing absent-mindely around the hallway they walked down. It was quite interesting to see this city, it looked to be built on top of an old underground base which was why everything was made of metal. His reverie was broken when he saw the old man's face looking at him

"The converted? They're the traitors to our species. Injected with nano-machines, they serve 'them'. The Invaders is what we call them, creatures from space, enormous beings, strong enough to obliterate cities. One of them, Technizer or something, he released a plague that makes humans into his twisted troopers. They lose any sense of life or emotion..."

"I'm sorry" Tommy said immediately, provoking another perplexed glance "I just assumed you'd lost someone, the way you describe it" Tommy explained, seeing by Clark's face that he'd guessed right. As they continued to walk, Tommy was lead into a room that was mainly empty save for a table and a huge map of the city pinned to a far wall. Red X's were dotted heavily across it.

"This is our battleground. In the year 2016 the Earth was invaded, the sky's turned dark and humanity did it's best to resist but we weren't strong enough. We were expecting them one at a time... not all at once." Silently considering this, Clark took a moment to touch a photo on the table. It showed a platoon of soldiers including one with a familiar fire in his eyes.

"I established Stronghold and left the government to the people themselves, we're 5 miles underground and have managed to avoid detection by even the burrowing Kaiju but it's only a matter of time. You had the power to hurt them, with that ray of yours. Tell me, how do I create one!"

"I'm sorry..." Tommy started, uncomfortably "But it's not a weapon, it's part of my body. I can tell you how to generate a Meta-Field to counter-act the Nega-Field generated by those weapons, though."

The blank stare he recieved told him everything he needed to know about Captain Clark's ability with science.

"I'll... write it down. You can give it to your scientists. In exchange, can you tell me where Laura Hawke is?"

"Why do you want to know?" Captain Clark asked, grunting indignantly at being talked down to by an alien.

"I made a promise" Tommy mentioned, airily, handing over the finished formula, scribbled on the back of Clark's photo "where's she live?"

"Alien, Hawke's almost certainly on a mission with Gabel. You'll have to wait until they get back"

"Oh... that's a problem" Tommy muttered, turning suddenly and sprinting down the hallway, provoking a cry of surprise from Clark "Sorry, I'm going to go find them, this is important. We can finish this de-briefing later, sir!" as his feet bounced rapidly off of the floor's surface, Tommy wondered whether this was really going to be the best way to go about his mission.

**\-/-\-/**

Jason limped slightly with the bruises he'd sustained fighting against those converted a few days ago. He had no idea how they'd survived but when he'd come to, they wouldn't let him see Tommy. He'd been taken away by someone called Clark and was apparently being held by GEDO whatever that was.

It worried him. Whatever had happened to Tommy was something supernatural, and it hadn't been 'them' that had done it. The Invaders were too big to notice humans much, they only killed what they saw and what fought back, the converted were the weapon of choice against normal humans. But the converted didn't have the technology to revive a human and not modify them, even if they wanted to.

And Laura wasn't helping. Ever since Tommy's death she'd been unstable, he'd recieved reports of her drinking excessively at Stronghold's only bar and her breakdown outside the hospital was making him worried for her stability. But he wasn't leaving her behind. They were a team and it was an insult to Tommy's memory to leave her behind.

But if Jason had to hear one more time that Tommy was definitely alive and that he'd saved them with his 'light' he'd kill her himself. Nat seemed to be the most balanced about it, not uncertain like him or obsessive like Laura. She just didn't believe it was him. A copy, a converted, something. Tommy was dead. She didn't like it but that was the truth.

It was why she'd found nearly all the food this trip, and a carton of ammo they could carry back and distribute.

The latest rest stop was the fourth floor of a multistory carpark. A few ruined automobiles remained but were already stripped bare. The seats inside were pretty comfy though and made good bedding for them to rest on, restoring their stamina. Nat was on watch as Jason had managed to convince Laura she wasn't ready for sentry duty yet.

It was time for the switch over. Rising up, he found Nat sitting on a discard tyre and looking at a photo. Walking up behind her he glanced down to see who it was of. He recognised the shy face that had only just managed to get caught due to slow reflexes  
"I miss him" Nat murmured, dabbing at her eyes as she said it. Jason put his arm around her shoulders and held her for a while.

No matter how unlikely it was. He wanted it to be Tommy, back from the dead.

**\-/-\-/**

Jason's watch was uneventful until it settled into around the 3rd hour when he heard a dull explosion. It didn't sound like a bomb going off, but like something unbelievably heavy falling to the floor rapidly. Moving to the edge of the building, he glanced out and saw what exactly was making the noise.

It was huge, 4 enormous segmented legs carried it down the street as it impaled what rubble remained with the huge blades that made up it's calves. The whole body was a mottled grey and covered in dusky plates. It's face was blank, only a sharp lower jaw was visible and it's arms ended in scissor like fingers, hinged together to allow it to grip things.

It must be almost 100 feet tall, Jason estimated, it was truly gargantuan. Taking cover behind the car-park's barrier (originally intended to stop cars driving off but now serving a far more useful function) he looked dismally at his pistol. The Nega-Bolt's worked well on the converted but somehow, he felt he needed more firepower.

Sneaking back over to the car, he tried desperately to rouse Nat. Grumbling at her lack of sleep, Nat rose and saw the huge creature. Supressing the urge to scream, she looked to Jason and saw his hand signals

"Get Laura. Evacuate. Bottom Level."

Nodding, Nat crept around to where Laura was still peacefully sleeping while Jason tried to keep his eye on the creature. It was slowly rotating it's head when it opened it's mouth. Jason made the unfortunate mistake of blinking at the critical time and missed it but when he opened his eyes again the creature was looking directly at them.

It had no eyes, but somehow it had isolated and located them in the second it had taken Jason to blink. Getting up quickly, he saw Nat had roused Laura and the two of them were standing ready.

"We have to go, now" He announced as the creature unleashed a resounding roar, the concrete around them reverberating and the car's remaining glass exploding outward with the harmonic resonance. Nat and Laura didn't need to be told twice.

Sprinting down the ramps, they rounded corners rapidly, occasionally slipping directly between floors by vaulting over the barriers to try and save time. They were on the 2nd floor when Jason noticed the creature had vanished with a loud boom. It was nowhere to be seen, but it was clearly after them.

Where could it...

"Jump! Jump now!" Jason yelled, diving over the edge of the 2 storey gap, followed faithfully by Nat and Laura as they crashed into the rubble of the street, and just in time. The bladed feet of the kaiju lanced effortlessly through the concrete of the car-park crushing it with a cacophany of destroyed masonry.

The dust cloud it threw up masked their retreat as the survivors escaped as quickly as they could, but vision was no problem for the creature. It opened it's mouth again and darted out with it's tongue when it was interupted by a voice shouting at it from a nearby roof-top

"Hey! I'm supposed to be looking after that one" it said, drawing the creatures attention.

Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out the slim metal cylinder "Steel Toed Gargazon, native of Planet Onicle. I think I can handle you pretty easily" Pressing the button on the cylinder, Tommy pressed the face of his wristband with the hand holding the cylinder and an enormous light began to shine forth from his body

Some distance away, Laura stopped the retreat to turn and face the increasing light  
"It's Tommy" she smiled "Tommy came to save us"  
Jason ignored his earlier promise and took her hand, leading her away to safety. After all, he wanted it to be true too.

**\-/-\-/**

Gargazon screeched in rage at the sudden materialisation of Ultraman. By pressing the capsule, Tommy had allowed all of his energy to manifest and was now his full height of 128 feet. Raising his fists slowly, Ultraman expanded his senses and confirmed his earlier notion. The only living humans here were the scavengers, which meant that he didn't need to worry about hurting people in the fight.

Advancing carefully, he swung out with a hook punch to try and knock Gargazon off balance, but the enormous monster merely swayed to avoid it and counter-attacked with his own blade fingered arm. Using the momentum of his earlier punch, Ultraman dived and rolled back to his feet, the road beneath them creaking with the pressure of his weight.

Getting up again, Ultraman chopped down on the back of Gargazon's neck, stunning the Kaiju, before grabbing it around the waist and hoisting the entire gigantic creature into the air. It screamed and thrashed it's bladed legs, demolishing what few buildings remained with devestating cuts as it was held in a crushing bear-hug.

Setting his feet squarely, Ultraman leant back with a loud shout as he suplexed the monster onto the remains of the carpark. It fell with an enormous crash but wasn't as hurt as expected, getting up and roaring at the heroic alien again. Ultraman got ready for another attack but was surprised to see the creature bending it's legs and coiling itself tightly.

There was a loud burst of air and a sonic boom as the creature rocketted into the sky, hundreds of yards into the atmosphere. Ultraman was confused for a moment, he knew that Planet Onicle had much greater gravity than Earth but Gargazon must have had time to adapt?

Realisation came just in time as Ultraman dived to one side, Gargazon's bladed legs piercing the spot where he'd just been standing like harpoon from the heavens. Roaring in anger, Gargazon pried one free and began slashing and swiping at Ultraman, trying to rip it's enemy to pieces. Ultraman dodged the first attack but was narrowly grazed by the secoond one, cutting a long line along his arm.

Gargazon was prying free it's second leg with worrying speed, Ultraman needed to do something fast. He was standing to one side but was confused to see Gargazon was opening it's mouth for split seconds and then re-alligning itself to aim at him. Angry at himself, Ultraman realised why Gargazon had been unable to react to his attack from behind. Inside his mouth was a single eyeball on a stalk that shot out momentarily to see where it was attacking.

Armed with this knowledge, Ultraman waited until the next opening of the mouth. He saw, for a split second, the blue orb that made up the creature's eye and began moving to the right. But as soon as it closed, he changed directions and began running left. Gargazon slashed at where it thought Ultraman was meant to be and hissed in confusion as it hit nothing but air.

Standing behind the monster, Ultraman raised one arm high and the other horizontal to his body. Light began to emanate from his wrists as his power increased and with a final shout, he brought them together to unleash his Spacium Ray on Gargazon. The monster screeched it's anger as it's body burnt from the laser and finally collapsed, defeated.

Glancing down, Ultraman saw his color timer had only just begun to flash red. It looked like he was getting used to Tommy's body and the time they could spend transformed was increasing. With a shower of golden light, his body vanished and left him standing in Tommy's form besides the body of Gargazon.

Pressing his hands together, Tommy quietly prayed  
"I hope your spirit finds rest, my brother from Onicle." While he fought monsters to protect people, he knew that they weren't naturally evil. The same stood for the converted, they were tainted by someone. It was the reason he'd come to this planet, to find the source... and now he had another mission.

**\-/-\-/**

"That light was him," Laura continued, breathlessly "Tommy's returned to us! He's an angel or something, he lost his memory but he still tries to protect us"

"Laura, I don't think that's the case" Nat replied, but doubt was in her voice. They'd heard that voice and seen the battle as it raged, could it be possible? The silver helmet hadn't looked like Tommy but then again what DID it look like? It was fighting those monsters after all.

"It isn't him," Jason stated, firmly "Whatever that was, it wasn't Tommy. He's still at the base being held by Captain Clark" They were approaching Sub-1 when he glanced at the ruined metal device they'd seen the day Tommy died. It was still here, left by the converted. Taking a moment to think, he approached the device and picked at the scraps from the shot.

The damage was strange, while it was clear a hole had been made, it shouldn't be this large, the metal was curved inwards at one point but outwards at the rest like something... had broken free. But if so, where was it? What had the device been meant to contain? Was it related to that light they'd seen?

A terrifying thought came to Jason, hadn't that light they'd seen behind them been similar? It hadn't emitted the strange static but it had been the same color and brightness, what if-

"Hey there! Are you guys alright?" Jason whipped up to look at the source of the familiar voice. It was Tommy, wearing a strange black uniform and smiling. That smile was wrong, Jason thought, too confident. Nat was too bewildered to see him alive and well to think about it and Laura looked about to cry again.

She'd been so tough before all this, but Tommy had worn her down to being hysterical half the time. He missed the strong Laura who took no crap and insisted on using her father's old service revolver rather than one of the pistols they salvaged. Now she was hugging the guy she'd rejected with all her strength and asking how he was here.

"I was just taking a walk, I need to report back to Captain Clark" Tommy looked at Jason and saw the look in his eyes. Rather than become hostile, the eyes were filled with good nature and understanding. Like he understood his paranoia.

"Who's Captain Clark?" Nat asked, starting the group's progression to the elevator. Tommy seemed to be confused at Laura's holding onto his arm but made no move to remove her

"Oh, you guys don't know him? He's helping me until I get my memory back and in return I'm working for his new department, GEDO"

"GEDO? Oh, I've heard of that! General Earth Defence Organisation or something? Jason, we have to apply, we can help Tommy get his memory back" Laura smiled, the first real sign of happiness Jason had seen on her face since...

"Alright" Jason conceded, "We'll see what Captain Clark has to say" Tommy looked nervous at the suggestion but said nothing. Jason scowled at him, this wasn't his friend, this was something else in his skin. And he was going to find out what.

**\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/**

And that's the end of Chapter 1, hope you guys liked it. If you have any criticisms or advice, please comment and I'll get to work on Chapter 3 right away.


	3. Episode 3: Hope

_Encased by steel, he tried to burst his way free. It had been designed to trap him and it was working, every blow he struck was absorbed, the metal wasn't even altered by the effect. Being so utterly confined was terrifying for him, the openness of space was his natural habitat, this was his idea of hell._

_And then there was a hole._

_There was a screech of energy on metal and from the outside there was a hole. The brief glimpse of freedom gave him all the motivation he needed, he grabbed the edge of the gap and wrenched it open, the hole given him leverage._

_Looking outside, bodies lay all around him. They resembled the humans that had fired on him, different than from he'd been expecting. The warped features, the mechanical additions, not something considered standard from what he'd been told._

_A little way away he saw something else, it looked like a real human, the kind he was expecting but injured. Rushing over to the human, he realised how weak he was. The two of them were two of a kind, both dying here on their own. Worlds apart, but killed by the same people, ironically enough._

_The human slowly raised his hand and pointed at him, his voice was weak but the words were clear  
"You... if you... use me... you can live... please... promise me-"_

"I promised," Tommy muttered to himself, looking at the hands of the human who'd saved his life. "and I'm going to keep that promise"

**- - - Episode 3: Hope - - -**

Jason fidgetted in his seat as he glanced around the interview room. Simple, box like, one single metallic desk with two chairs and a sealed door that lead to the outside. Nat and Laura had both been taken into their own interview rooms which left him with his thoughts while they got round to him.

From watching him move, Jason now knew that Tommy wasn't Tommy. Whatever he was, there was something different about him, but he couldn't see why he acted the way he did. If he were a spy, then why did the converted that attacked him and Laura vanish? Did someone come and wipe them out? He'd heard that 3 guards had been killed so he didn't believe that Stronghold's Security did it.

But if that was the case, then who did? For that matter, why was Tommy alone and unarmed above ground. It hadn't occured to him at the time, but everyone carried a weapon above ground. All he had was his new uniform and that weird watch thing, not exactly the most equipped to be walking through a war-zone.

It all seemed too bizarre, coming so soon after the death of Tommy, for all this strange stuff to start happening. How had the converted even broken into Stronghold in the first place? All of this was something he needed to work out, along with how this GEDO thing factored into it.

His reverie was broken by a click of the door turning as a man in a dark suit entered the room, razor-thin sunglasses hiding his eyes from view as he sat down and opened a file  
"Now, Mr Gabel, let's talk about you..."

**\-/-\-/**

"What's your take on them, alien" Captain Clark grunted, he was looking over schematics drawn up based on what the alien had told them and so far? He was pretty convinced they made the right call working with him

"Honestly? I think it's what you call a Catch-22. I don't want them finding out the real Tommy's dead so it'd be easier if they worked somewhere else. But, from our limited contact, I'm pretty certain the real Tommy would want them close" he sighed, idly picking at a drawing pin the captain had stuck in the map.

He should stop second guessing himself, just try and rationalise his behaviour if anyone ever asked him about it. If he thought of himself as the human, Tommy, then he'd be fine. Or at least, that was what he hoped. It was looking a little unlikely right now.

The Captain and Tommy were sitting in the meeting room, the de-briefing had concluded and a fairly favourable arrangement had been made.

Tommy would work for Clark, and in return, he would help Tommy with blending into the society and supporting him when he fought Invaders. It was essentially a pact to work together, Captain Clark had surprised Tommy with how open minded he was to the idea of extra-terrestrial help but he didn't think questioning his judgement would have particularly positive consequences.

"I think you should decide whether or not to hire them on their own merits," Tommy finally concluded "Now if you don't mind, I think I should eat something." Getting out of his chair, Tommy made for the door, the captain stayed in his seat as he made notes on the weapon schematics.

"Remember, alien. You have to be careful not to expose yourself. If you have some time, check the North housing district. We've recieved some worrying reports"

"Worrying how?" Tommy asked, frowning at the strange phrase.

"You'll have to go and see" smirked Clark, pulling a cigarette out of his sleeves and patting himself down for his lighter. Tommy shrugged, it'd be something to do, and maybe he'd learn something new about humans.

As he walked to the entrance of GEDO head-quarters, he wondered how the interviews were going

**\-/-\-/**

... "So, Ms Deaver, what made you want to work for GEDO?"

"Honestly? I'm not certain I do, but if the rest of them are joining up I feel I have to. I respect your ideaology, but I don't know what the hell your boss was thinking"

"Sorry?"

"When he hired him, Tommy... Mr Starr to you, I guess. He hired him even though he'd been reported KIA and was found under mysterious circumstances. Is that how things work in GEDO?"

"Ma'am, while I haven't had the good fortune to talk face to face with Captain Clark or Mr Starr, I'm certain that there is a good reason for his employment in GEDO"

"Sure, and I'm sure we'll get to that if I get the job."

"Certainly. Now, it says on your record you learnt how to be a pilot?"...

**\-/-\-/**

The streets of Stronghold were still strangely metallic, as was the entire city, like an expanded airvent was the best way Tommy could express it. It reminded him unpleasently of that cage, but fortunately it didn't feel quite as claustrophobic.

He'd found a vendor selling a kind of mushroom burger, they couldn't grow any real crops down here but the mushrooms could be engineered to taste and feel like anything. He didn't really mind, it was only fuel after all. He liked the taste, but he wouldn't have complained if it had been just mushrooms wrapped in a bun.

Following the painted signs, Tommy arrived in the North housing district (named after someone called North, rather than the direction as he'd originally assumed) and noticed it was quite close to the hospital he'd stayed in. Upon arriving, he immediately saw why these 'worrying reports' had been coming in.

The district was pretty shabby looking to begin with, tarpaulins stretched into oddly shaped tents and some of the bulbs used to illuminate the area had been broken (smashed, but Tommy wasn't going to jump to conclusions) there was dirt everywhere across the floor and over people, muddy children playing in the mess.

And that was what made him worried.

The reports had said that people had seen odd things moving around at night, but where did all this dirt come from? The entire of Stronghold was air-tight, it had to be, they got all their air from vents that were wired throughout the city like a circulatory system, opening and closing to an unpredictable rhythm so the converted couldn't find them.

So, how did they get mud in here without traipsing it all the way through the middle of town. And more importantly, why?

Approaching the first person he saw, Tommy tried the official route first of all  
"Excuse me, I'm with GEDO, I heard there were problems in-"

"Piss it off, ya blighter" hicked the man, confusing Tommy's already tenuous grasp of slang "I nain't dun nuffink wrong"

"Well, that's wonderful. Unfortunately, I hear someone else has. Who sneaks around at night?"  
"Wha, Dirty Danny? That's what we call 'im" the lush hiccuped and began staggering away. Tommy considered going after him but, really... he didn't think it was neccessary.

Trying a different tactic, he saw some children playing with the mud and squatted down besides them, managing an unforced smile at their gleeful playing in the mud  
"Hey guys, do you know who Dirty Danny?"

"hee, yeah, Mister" One of the kids answered, his friends giggling in the background

"That's great! Who is he?" The kid stood up sharply and lobbed a handful of mud straight into Tommy's expectant face

"He's you! Hahaha!" As the kids fled, Tommy wiped the mud off his face with a profound sigh. He was fighting for these jerks. Standing up straight, he noticed a woman watching him from behind one of the tarpaulin houses. Curious, he tried approaching despite the mud on his face and hoping third time was the charm.

"Hey there, I don't suppose you want to talk to me?"

"What about?" The woman asked, her arms firmly folded. Her eyes stayed locked on him which made Tommy a strange combination of nervous and hopeful that she'd be able to help him.

"Do you know who Dirty Danny is?"

"Yeah, he's the local boogeyman right about now, people say he's kidnapping folks and takin 'em to the Invaders" the woman dabbed at her eyes with her thumb "If he's real, I think he took my brother, yesterday. I don't know where he is, I tried calling it in but any report gets changed before it gets through so it sounds innocuous"

Tommy understood why the Captain had said they sounded worrying. The old man was smart, he knew that people wouldn't regularly report people moving around at night, especially in this... less pleasent, end of town. And Tommy had a reasonably good idea what might be behind this.

**\-/-\-/**

..."-trained with every kind of weapon that's commonly acquirable, so yeah, I think I could hold my own in a fight"

"That's excellent, Miss Hawke. Now unfortunately, we have to address your relation to Mr Starr"

"Tommy? He's... he's my friend. We thought he was killed in action"

"Only thought?"

"Well, obviously. He's walking around, he looks the same, still looking out for me, Jason 'n Nat. It's got to be him, no question"

"You'd be willing to bet your life on that? To go on a mission with him at your side and not worry he was a converted in disguise"

"Absolutely. He's Tommy. He has to be"...

**\-/-\-/**

It wasn't easy to find, but after a couple of hours, Tommy managed to find what he was looking for. A metal sided house that acted as an epicenter for the dirt, small sprinkles of dust and clay lay around the place. The mud had spread everywhere throughout the district but this was the only house where it all faced outwards, like an explosion.

As far as he could see, there were no footprints leading in through the front door, but there was a condensing of mud around the side that lead through a side passage. Glancing around to ensure he was on his own, he sidled over to the alternative entrance and snuck inside, keeping his back to the wall so he was able to see everyone around him.

The passage lead to a filthy room, the dining table was covered with piles of muck and the path lead to a heavy metal door. Certainly a step up from the tents earlier. Testing the handle, Tommy found it unlocked and gently eased the door open.

Inside, the area was filled with complicated machinery, huge tanks full of a bubbling purple liquid and huge collections of wires and circuits were littered about the room. Human bodies lay amongst the debris, the corpses had been mutilated in an unsuccessful attempt to convert them.

Sitting in a cage, sniffling, was a young boy who even at a glance, resembled the woman Tommy had spoken to earlier.

Creeping over, Tommy began examining the padlock. A combination dial, which was good, he had an enhanced sense of hearing as one of his 'perks' of the human/ultaran hybrid he was and could hear the tumblers falling into place. As the last one fell into place and he opened the cage with a click, he heard the boy say something

"Behind you"

And had just enough time to glance up and into the fist of the creature looming behind him.

**\-/-\-/**

..."Well, that'll be all Mr Gabel. I'm sorry it took so long, but we have to be thorough. You understand"

"Of course. Hey... can I ask you a question? Off the record?"

"As long as it's only one, I don't see a problem with you asking"

"Do you think Tommy's alright? Doesn't seem odd?"

"I'm... unsure what you mean. He's perfectly polite to everyone and seems to be friendly with the Captain. Which is saying something in itself"

"Is it?"

"Hmm, perhaps I said too much. We'll be through to discuss your results shortly, Mr Gabel"...

**\-/-\-/**

Rolling with the impact, Tommy managed to get to his feet before the creature could follow up it's attack. Looking over to it, Tommy felt his earlier suspicions being justified by the monstrosity.

It was made entirely of clay, a dusky brownish yellow and was predominantly made of blocky features, it's head was an awkward, angular shape and it's eyes single black orbs. The hands were odd, rather than the usual cube like fingers they were long, delicate. Precise. Not your standard fare for this kind of species.

The kid was looking around, scared. Tommy quickly side-stepped and pointed at the entrance. Uncertain, the kid hesitated, which unfortunately provoked the creature into attacking. Tommy dived at it, knocking it to the floor and giving the kid time to run.

Once he was clear, Tommy checked one last time for witnesses. Raising his wrist, he tried talking to gauge the creatures intellect  
"So, a Golemen from Planet Bousd. Who taught you how to perform that surgery on humans?"

The silence that met this was fairly obvious, since the monster had no mouth. Deciding to ignore his error in judgement. Tommy touched the wristband's face and transformed in a small blaze of light into Ultraman.

The Golemen twitched once before rushing at Ultraman and hurling both out into the street, rupturing the metal wall in the process. Using one hand to pry himself clear, Ultraman punched the creature in the side but felt nothing but his knuckles indenting in the creature.

In response, the creature tightened its grip, causing Ultraman to yell out in pain as the creature tried to crush him. while a small crowd formed to watch the spectacle

"It's Dirty Danny! He's real..."

"Who's he fighting? Is that someone trying to help us?"

Struggling for purchase, Ultraman managed to crouch and with a loud shout rocketted upwards into the air. He began flying and spun around rapidly in the air, the Golemen holding on tightly but small pieces of it fell away as the spinning continued.

In his smaller form, Ultraman was faster than normal but his strength was lower, not able to lift anything larger than a car, whereas with the larger form he could lift entire buildings but needed time to reach his normal maximum speed.

As the spinning intensified, larger pieces of the Golemen flew off until finally a certain chunk with a dull red light shining within flew off and landed several feet away. Spotting it, Ultraman noticed the rest of the clay around his legs drying off and quickly flew down to grab the red light.

Hoisting it up, the source of the light became clear. A jittering red creature with a large light on it's forehead. Golemen were creatures that used their telekinetic abilities to create suits of clay to mobilise themselves. He'd never heard of one performing such deeds, their sentience was always quite weak, but at least this was an opponent that he could deal with, without using his Spacium Ray.

Grabbing the insect firmly, he squeezed and the creature squeaked once before expiring. He felt bad for the creature, it wasn't aware of what it was doing on any real level but still, it could wipe out the rest of the human race if left on its own.

Ultraman was so absorbed that he only noticed the applause when he heard one of the crowd whistle. Turning around, he saw most of the North district clapping and smiling at him. Defeating 'Dirty Danny' seemed to have won him some fame around the area, which was good in a way. But in the 'keep a low profile' sense, he'd failed slightly here.

Waving to the crowd, Ultraman slowly lifted up into the air and flew off towards the GEDO head-quarters. It looked like he was going to need to talk to the general about this.

**\-/-\-/**

Captain Clark was slowly flicking through the files he had on the scavenging team, Gabel seemed to have good leadership qualities and it was well noted that the unit worked well together. They were particularly successful at obtaining food and supplies, he noted, almost able to last on the surface indefinitely.

He glanced at the map and at the drawing pin the alien had been playing with, impaling a certain spot of land that was of the greatest importance to both him and the survival of the human race.

It was miles away, but if they could reach it, then it would give humanity the chance they needed, a weapon to be used against the Invaders. Even with their survival abilities, he wasn't ready to send all of them. He stroked his chin as he thought about his options, interupted by the return of the alien

"I'm back," Tommy announced as he sat down in his chair from before "I dealt with the problem in North district, which also explains how those converted got in. You were quite observant to notice, though"

"What can I say, I'm an odd man. I'm nothing if not experienced" Clark creaked his way up to his feet and hobbled away from the table, looking over his shoulder at Tommy "I'm hiring all three. I'll pair you with your partner and send you on your first mission tomorrow. Get some rest"

Tommy listened to the door as it squealed open and shut, hoping to himself that Captain Clark had made the right decision here. He wondered if he had too, but from the brief glimpse he'd caught of the sister and her brother as he'd left, the smiles on their faces... that was worth fighting for.

**\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/**

Not sure if that turned out alright, but its finished now. Does anyone have any feedback they can give me? I feel I'm making mistakes somehow but I'm not sure where.


End file.
